Movie Review: Larry Crowne

Larry Crowne (2011)
98 minutes
Rated PG-13
Directed by Tom Hanks
Starring: Tom Hanks, Julia Roberts

Grade: C

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Larry Crowne has a good set-up for a romantic comedy: a hard-working, middle-aged man gets laid off even though he’s arguably the best employee and must go to community college to get his degree. Think of this as Community if Jeff Winger was older and not a jerk. Tom Hanks stars as Larry Crowne and after being laid off, times are so hard on him he has to drive a Vespa. But don’t worry, there’s a cool Vespa gang at community college!

That’s what you can expect during Larry Crowne. This is a film that is awfully light-hearted and there is never really any doubt that Larry Crowne will find success. He meets new friends instantly, he’s offered a new job that he enjoys and he catches the eye of the public speaking teacher, Mrs. Tainot (Roberts). You already know how it’s going to end before it starts, but I guess that’s the case for most romantic comedies.

Julia Roberts is the most interesting and realistic character in the film. She’s unhappily married (to Bryan Cranston, a man who is excellent in any role given to him), drinks a lot and doesn’t seem to care about anything. She even gives Larry Crowne the stink-eye at first but falls for his charm and kindness.

There’s nothing special about this film and if you’ve watched a romantic comedy before, then you certainly don’t need to watch this one. Tom Hanks, in his prime, starred in far superior rom-coms than this, but there is an audience for Larry Crowne. It’s safe, predictable, and will put a smile on your face. It’s a film that people can enjoy to watch without any worry about straining their minds. There is nothing wrong with a movie like this, I just wish it was more involved.

Movie Review: Project X

Project X (2012)
88 minutes
Rated – R
Directed by Nima Nourizadeh
Starring: Thomas Mann, Oliver Cooper, Jonathan Daniel Brown

Grade: C-

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Movies about high school are full of cliches: nerds, jocks, partying, sex, college, alcohol, etc. Project X has them all and it doesn’t even try to hide it with any sort of moral or message that could benefit any teenager who watches. It’s an all out, rage fest of a film; unapologetic of its insulting and crude material and ignorant to its own stupidity.

But it’s kind of fun.

High school senior Thomas is persuaded by his friends to throw a party for his 17th birthday since his parents are going to be away. One thing leads to another and a thousand kids end up showing up to the party. Debauchery ensues and events during the party turn ridiculous such as a midget being thrown into an oven, a car being driven into the in-ground pool, and a lawn gnome containing dozens of ecstasy pills is broken.

This is your teenage fantasy film about a bunch of nobody’s fulfilling their ultimate dream of becoming popular after throwing the most epic party of the year. At first, you feel bad for Thomas because he really is a good kid, conflicted with peer pressure from his friends and craving to fit in at school. But all of these feelings soon diminish after he constantly makes bad decisions, snowballing the party into an absolute riot. Once again, this is a fantasy film for all those normal teenagers to get high off of.

Putting all the negative qualities of the movie aside, and there are a lot, what bugs me the most about Project X is how shallow the film actually is. At least attempt at any kind of positive message, or some characters that we can relate to or even have an emotional attachment to. But there’s none of that during Project X. It’s simply an enormous party and as the audience, we’re in the corner with our red solo cup just watching everything unfold without a care in the world.

Though I’m sure that this movie cares equally as little as we do.

Movie Review: We Bought a Zoo

We Bought a Zoo (2011)
124 minutes
Rated – PG
Directed by Cameron Crowe
Starring: Matt Damon, Scarlett Johansson, Thomas Haden Church

Grade: B

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A family drama is a complicated genre because unless it’s an animated feature from Pixar or Dreamworks, it’s a tough task to keep the attention of both children and adults. We Bought a Zoo is a family drama that suits adults much more than kids, but it’s still a family drama nonetheless. Aside from the animals in the zoo, there’s not much to hold the kids’ focus for this 2+ hour film, but for the adults, it’s entertaining and heart-warming.

Matt Damon plays Benjamin Mee, a single father because of the tragic death of his wife. He has two children, Dylan the rebellious son who has trouble communicating with his father and pours his emotion into his drawings; and Rosie, the cutest girl in the entire world who jumps for joy at the sight of the animals.

Two supporting characters really make an impact on Benjamin’s life: Duncan (Church), his brother and Kelly (Johansson) the zoo keeper. Duncan provides plenty of comic relief and also portrays the brother who speaks logic to his brother who seems to be acting on emotion. It doesn’t make sense to buy a house and a zoo when he doesn’t know anything about maintaining one. Even when Benjamin digs himself a hole and runs out of money, Duncan suggests he leaves the project after a good effort, but Benjamin is determined to see things through. Whether it’s for himself, for his kids, or maybe a bit of both, Benjamin places all of his chips in.

In the other corner, Kelly provides the passion for the animals and for rebuilding the zoo back up. She’s the emotional force behind the zoo and Benjamin feeds off of her enthusiasm and finds something he could help with in his quest to move forward without his wife. One of the things I truly enjoyed about this film is how Benjamin and Kelly’s relationship never blossomed to a distraction on screen. The story isn’t about Benjamin and Kelly finding each other romantically, it’s about the family working things out together in the means of the zoo.

Overall, this was a very enjoyable family drama with solid performances all around the cast. Based on a true story, the film deals with the loss of a loved one and a family trying to move on. It’s touching yet never tear-jerking during its most powerful moments, but it’s still a film that is a good watch for anyone.

The Walking Dead – “Arrow on the Doorpost”

Season Three, Episode Thirteen

Grade: B-

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After the incredible episode last week that only focused on the trip that Rick, Michonne and Carl took to retrieve weapons, we return to the main (and only) story-line of The Walking Dead: the prison vs. Woodbury. And it reminded me how poor the writing for this season has been with its main story arc. Once we were introduced with the Governor, we knew that there was going to be a showdown between him and Rick, and between Woodbury and the prison. But that’s it. There is nothing else going on at all. It takes Michonne a dozen episodes just to speak up and become friendly. Andrea is tossing and turning trying to figure out who’s right, who’s wrong, and which side to commit to. There has been a few episodes that focused slightly on Glen and Maggie, along with Daryl and Merle. But nothing that lasts more than a few episodes.

This is what’s causing The Walking Dead to fail as a once thrilling and compelling television series. While it was necessary for Shane to be killed when he did, the show is seriously hurting ever since he died. He presented a conflict inside the group, a thin line between what’s right and wrong, a person willing to step up against Rick when he couldn’t make difficult decisions. That, along with Lori’s affair and her loyalty to Rick, was way more interesting than all this this Governor nonsense. But the writers made this decision and has was forced to stick with it.

With three episodes left, when will the final showdown happen? Game of Thrones showed the big battle on their penultimate episode last season, so will The Walking Dead do the same? Probably not since they waited until the last episode of season two for their most action-packed, when a large herd of walkers entered Hershel’s farm. But it’ll be the episode most fans have been anticipated since the beginning of the season.

“Arrow on the Doorpost” wasn’t a terrible episode. It had a very good fifteen minutes, mostly between Rick and the Governor exchanging jabs at each other in a testosterone-filled garage (no wonder Andrew got the boot). And I even though the exchanges between Hershel/Milton and Daryl/one of the Governor’s lackey while their leaders were drinking whiskey. It showed how in the grand scope of thing, they were all people. They had no direct bad blood between each other, only that their leaders are feuding. It reminded me of a short story called “The Last Spin” where two gangs settle their spat by sending one member each to a game of Russian Roulette. In that story, the two gang members bonded over their similar backgrounds, even though they were in gangs that hated one another.

But there were only a good fifteen minutes. The rest of the episode was full of Andrea being annoying, Merle going crazy, and Glen and Maggie shacking up. This is because there is only ONE story-line and when the show doesn’t address the inevitable battle, you get throwaway scenes like Rick chasing a ghost or Glen and Maggie fighting or Carol holding Judith.

Just three episodes left. I think it’s safe to play the game of, Who’s Going to Die? Make your final list of character who will be offed and who will survive by the end of this season. Here’s my list:

Dead:
- Carol
- Merle
- Beth
- The Governor
- Milton

Alive:
- Rick
- Carl
- Andrea
- Glen
- Maggie
- Hershel
- Michonne
- Judith
- Daryl

Movie Review: Funny Games (2007)

Funny Games (2007)
111 minutes
Rated – R
Directed by Michael Haneke
Starring: Naomi Watts, Tim Roth, Michael Pitt

Grade: A-

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This post contains spoilers.

First and foremost, you probably hate this movie, and usually I try to defend a movie that I thoroughly like but in this case I can’t. It’s only natural to hate this film so there’s no point to defend it. It’s heartless, gruesome, and leaves an angry, empty feeling after it’s all over. Who wants to watch a movie that just pisses you off to no end?

But there is a point and Haneke is simply too good of a director to make a poor movie. Every little quirk and moment that pisses you off is what Haneke is trying to point out. Just take the opening scene when the happy, wealthy family is driving back to their home while listening to opera. Everything is pleasant and it could remind you of a moment from your childhood when your family were on the road on a beautiful afternoon. And then the death metal music BLASTS with the title Funny Games over the shot of the family. The family doesn’t hear the music that’s causing us to cover our ears. It’s strange. It’s unnerving. It’s a hint at things to come and how us, as the audience, are really separated from the characters in the movie.

What happens for the rest of the movie feels like a typical home invasion, psychological thriller, but Funny Games is much more than that. Two young men, played by Brady Corbet and Michael Pitt, appear at the family’s home. They’re kind, but a bit too kind, and definitely have a creepy way to them. Anna (Watts) wants them to leave, but they respond to her by saying she’s being rude. Anna wants George (Roth) to kick them out of the house, but he allows the men to explain themselves. Anna lets him know that it doesn’t matter what reason she has, he should do what she wants and if she wants them out of the house, he should kick them out. George should’ve listened because one thing leads to another and George winds up with a broken kneecap.

There are things that Haneke is trying to point out to us as the audience. One thing is how we’re so used to seeing these sort of movies before that we expect certain things to happen. They kill their dog from the get-go, so they’re really bad men. But at the end of the day, at least someone has to survive and kill the bad guys, right? Haneke shows you a movie where the bad guys don’t get caught and they don’t let their victims slip through their fingertips. Even when they do make a classic error and Anna shoots one of them, Michael Pitt is able to rewind the film to prevent that happening. Yes, he actually stop the film you’re watching and rewinds it. This is why you hate this movie.

Haneke is also commenting how we’re so immune to  violence in movies. With all of these sub-horror genres, do we even flinch anymore at the sight of blood? So he pushes the envelope by first killing off the family dog and then killing off the small boy. I bet you can’t name too many films that kills off the dog and the child in the same movie, but Funny Games isn’t like any movie you’ve seen before. Like you needed another reason to hate this movie.

You will be disturbed by this film, or at least I hope you are. I also think that’s what Haneke is trying to do; to make a film that is so twisted and demented even from all of the horror movies people watch every year. Can we possibly be scared anymore? There are also a few moments when Michael Pitt’s character breaks the fourth-wall and speaks directly into the camera. While this certainly wasn’t necessary, Haneke doesn’t want his point to go over anyone’s head. We’re all rooting for the family to survive and to escape, and even when there really doesn’t seem like any chance for them to do so, we still hope they make it out alive. But Haneke just plays with us by dangling that carrot in front of our faces before yanking it away.

Funny Games is not a film you’ll most likely enjoy, but it’s undoubtedly powerful and thought-provoking. It’ll remain in your thoughts for days after you watch it, and that’s the whole experience of watching it. You’re forced to think of what you just watched and you’re supposed to question why Haneke made such a film. If not, then Haneke’s message did not make an impact on you like it should have. Instead, you’ll just follow the herd of sheep to the next horror screening, as long as you know what to expect.

Girls – “It’s Back”

Season Two, Episode Eight

Grade: B

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We move on after it seems like Jessa will be out of the picture for a while, that is unless Girls shows what Jessa is up to wherever she winds up. I’m not banking on it though because the show is very specific with its group and its location. So moving on, Shoshanna cheats on Ray, Marnie wants to be a singer, and Hannah has a serious case of OCD.

Let’s start out with Shoshanna. After she bumps into an old friend, Radhika, while walking in the park with Ray, she realizes how she’s abandoned her past life since she used to be really close with Radhika. But when they’re invited to a party, Ray declines admitting that it’s creepy for a 33-year-old to be going to a college party. Shoshanna goes anyway and doesn’t have a good time, but before she leaves the attractive doorman hits on her and they end up hooking up.

This really put a dagger in my heart because out of all the characters and their relationships, Shoshanna and Ray were my favorite probably because they were the only ones that seemed genuinely into each other. But here is just a situation where Ray has more to lose than Shoshanna and maybe she knows that. She’s young, pretty, and has her whole life ahead of her. Does she really want to be tied down with Ray at the moment? Doesn’t she want to explore and see who else is out there? These are dilemmas that many young folk have to go through, but almost always someones winds up getting hurt.

While Shoshanna and the doorman were getting it on, Marnie is utterly in distress when she finds out that her ex, Charlie, is incredibly successful from an app he sold. Marnie is one proud girl and she does have what it takes to be a very successful girl in the city, but she just hasn’t had her break yet. So it’s only natural for her to feel jealous of Charlie, who she pretty much dumped because she didn’t respect him much. She goes to complain about her problem to Ray and then Ray responds like he always does, very bluntly. He simply asks her what her dream is. What does she want to do with her life? Almost like a reflex, Marnie answers that she wants to be a singer. Ray’s reaction to this was the funniest moment in the entire episode.

When someone says they want to be a singer, or a writer, or an athlete, your first reaction would be Ray’s reaction… so what’s your second choice? It’s not that Marnie is a bad singer, because she’s quite good. And she certainly has the looks to be a pop star but this isn’t the time to reach for her dreams especially when it’s something so farfetch’d like that. She’s in her late 20′s and she needs to start getting serious. I’m not sure if she’s actually going to try and pursue a career in singing, but whether it’s that or anything with her love for art, she simply needs to catch a break soon and she is certainly due.

Finally, Hannah has a serious case of OCD. She needs to count things to eight, such as laying out eight potato chips and chewing eight times before swallowing. This is something she apparently has had in her past, but we’ve never seen this from her on the show, which makes it sort of… strange. But I guess that’s the point. OCD is a strange disorder that people cannot comprehend unless they’ve gone through it before. What seems to trigger this is all the stress she’s had from writing the e-book. Her parents act like any parents would and are concerned for her even though Hannah doesn’t want to admit her problem.

After a focused episode on Jessa, with Hannah alongside her, “It’s Back” concentrates on the other girls. Also, Adam has a story-line where he appears in an AA meeting and then gets set-up with one of the woman’s daughter. Surprisingly, they hit it off and we see a side to Adam that we’ve never really seen before. He’s charming and very easy to talk to during their blind date. So how much of his craziness stems from Hannah?

While it was out of the blue to show Hannah and her OCD, my main concern is how long this is going to last. It seems like an okay story-line for one episode, but will Hannah’s OCD continue? Will Marnie actually pursue a career in singing? Or was this all just something to mention but eventually throwaway?

New Girl – “TinFinity”

Season Two, Episode Eighteen

Grade: A-

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Whenever there is a group of friends, no matter how small or large the group, there are always two that you just know are closer to each other than the rest of the gang. In New Girl, we have the four roommates and there’s no doubt that Nick and Schmidt are the closest two of the group. They celebrate their 10 year anniversary of living together and share a real bro-moment when Schmidt needs a pick-me-up.

There are some hilarious scenes in TinFinity, most from Nick such as when he asks Jess if there’s icing on his lips or when he brings in his porta potty. Speaking of, the whole Nick and Jess awkwardness isn’t over yet and most of the times I would complain about how a sitcom isn’t burning through a story-line quickly enough, but I feel that this is the most legitimate real-life story that New Girl has out of all of its cartoon-ish situations. You senses their tension during the first season and while that took a back-seat for the beginning of the sophomore season, now it found its way dead center.

And the way their characters are makes it believable that something like a kiss would linger for a long while. Nick doesn’t want to talk about it and Jess wants to know what he’s thinking, but at the same time whenever things get weird for her she just runs away as well (which isn’t as funny as moon-walking away). While Jess took Cece’s advice to hook up with another guy, Jax ended up being the complete opposite of Nick, which was way too emotional. Nick seems to be taking their situation much better, though he definitely started feeling jealous when Jax and Jess hit it off.

In the end, Cece is proposed to and she accepts. To pour salt into that wound, they steal Schmidt’s thunder by taking his spotlight, his moment on stage with the soft music and the dazzling lights, and the infinity cake. But there they were, Nick and Schmidt, alone by themselves from the rest of the party just talking like guys do. Just acknowledging “that sucks” about the whole Cece thing is all guys need sometimes, and then to share a bottle of bourbon for the win. Less is more in this case and New Girl hits it right on the head.

Movie Review: Side Effects

Side Effects (2013)
106 minutes
Rated – R
Directed by Steven Soderbergh
Starring: Rooney Mara, Jude Law, Channing Tatum, Catherine Zeta-Jones

Grade: B+

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Rooney Mara is an absolute delight in Soderbergh’s Side Effects. It’s going to be hard for her to break free from her Dragon Tattoo role for the next several years, but here she’s able to control a different kind of troubled character. Mara plays Emily, a mentally unstable 28-year-old who suffers from depression and anxiety. Her husband Martin (Tatum) has just been released from prison where he’s been for the past four years on an insider-trading bust. The couple seem happy together, that is when Emily isn’t having one of her episodes.

After Emily rams her car into a wall, she sees psychiatrist Dr. Jonathan Banks (Law). Instead of keeping her overnight at the hospital, he believes Emily when she says she’s not going to hurt herself any further. She is very convincing, but Dr. Banks is taking a risk here on a patient he knows nothing about. The agreement is for her to visit Dr. Banks on a regular basis so he can keep track of her improvement.

Dr. Banks is a good psychiatrist who cares for his patients. He visits Emily’s former therapist, Dr. Victoria Siebert (Jones) to discuss Emily’s past and what medication Dr. Siebert has tried. This is the part of the film where Soderbergh completely takes over. We see plenty of Emily and Dr. Banks at the same time. Their characters are fully drawn out and their back-stories are revealed. Dr. Banks is taking on a few-too-many tasks for his own good just to keep up with his bills and his family.

After a shocking scene where Emily is deemed to be sleepwalking, everyone’s life is flipped upside-down. The rest of the film takes us on quite a ride and all of the dust doesn’t settle until the films final scene. It’s a very twisty, psychological thriller that will demand your attention throughout. There has been much said about this being Soderbergh’s final feature film, and if this is true it would be a fine way to retire (at the age of 50). He has provided the world with many notable films such as Ocean’s Eleven, Erin Brokovich, Traffic, Contagion, Magic Mike, and more.

But back to Side Effects, I just want to point out that the commercials and trailers do not give a sufficient portrayal of what kind of film this is. This is a dark, Hitchcock-ian film with a commentary on medication such as Zoloft and Prozac. While you might find yourself scratching your head during the middle of the film, Soderbergh neatly wraps everything up at the end, to many people’s delight I can imagine. Since this seems to be the only good film in the theaters at the moment, go check it out.

How I Met Your Mother – “Weekend at Barney’s”

Season Eight, Episode Eighteen

Grade: A-

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How I Met Your Mother has not been awful, but it hasn’t been great either, but “Weekend at Barney’s” is a great episode for the show (though maybe it’s because there are a lot more lows than highs). Full of quick cuts, ominous music, and silly shenanigans, this is a classic HIMYM episode from start to finish.

We find out that Barney’s Playbook isn’t actually destroyed, which he staged during “The Robin.” That was just a ceremonial Playbook. He brings the Playbook out to help Ted find a date for his and Robin’s wedding. “New is always better,” he tells Ted, persuading him to break up with Jeanette. So Ted goes to MacLaren’s with Barney in his ear-piece to walk him through plays in the Playbook.

But when Robin walks in on the whole operation and discovers that Barney has lied to her about the Playbook being destroyed, she storms out. Barney runs after her while Ted encounters Jeanette running into him at the bar. The conversation between Robin and Barney on the street was sincere and displays what HIMYM does so well, that is presenting real-life drama in an otherwise light, silly sitcom. Neil Patrick Harris delivers his lines in a way we know that Barney is telling the truth. His life is full of lies because that’s who he is and what he does well. Even the proposal that swept off Robin’s feet were a string of lies. But the only thing that matters is that they love each other, and that’s the truth. This was a very strong moment in the episode.

In the other story-line, Lily brings Marshall to an art exhibit to see what kind of gem she can locate for the Captain. Marshall tries to fit in but seems to be rusty with his ability to befriend anyone, anywhere. This part of the episode brought the biggest laugh when Marshall drops his Skittles during a moment of silence for the artist’s deceased grandmother. Marshall doesn’t move an inch, but the Skittles kept falling onto the floor.

Overall, it’s good news that HIMYM can still provide laughs and drama to an episode in its light and fun way. Jeanette is finally out of Ted’s hair (at least I hope) and we’re only six episodes until the end of the eighth season. Can we expect some huge cliffhanger? Maybe involving a yellow umbrella? Make it happen!

The Walking Dead – “I Ain’t a Judas”

Season Three, Episode Eleven

Grade: C+

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Just for the record, I was pretty disappointed over last week’s sloppy episode of The Walking Dead. Characters were out of character, motivations were without motivation, and once again there was just too much talking going on. The conclusion with the Governor and his lackies dumping walkers into the prison grounds was riveting and action-packed, but what the hell? With Rick, Merle, and Daryl on the outside, the Governor could’ve easily wiped them out if he brought probably five more men. But he just smirks and then drives away. Mission accomplished? What was the mission, to absolutely give away the element of surprise? Well done then.

It was nice to see Tyrese and his small group back on the show, but they enter Woodbury and are very willing to join up with the Governor to kick Rick’s ass. A bit strange for Tyrese and his girl, whom seemed like decent people, willing to fight with the Governor and slay all of those “good people.” I know they’re pissed at Rick for driving them out, but will they be willing to slaughter the entire group? I don’t believe so.

And staying on topic, the Governor and Milton are very eager to learn about the layout of the prison. Plus they’re training everyone in the community that can hold a gun. So they’re obviously getting ready to attack again, but seriously, they could’ve easily taken over the prison last episode. I just don’t get that at all.

Anyway, back to “I Ain’t a Judas,” Andrea goes to the prison to see her old friends and possibly persuade them to a truce. While her stay was very brief, the purpose was for her to see how much everyone has changed since she last saw them being overrun by walkers at the farm. The group is certainly a broken one, with deaths to many of them, and with Rick going crazy. They’re all on edge and compared to the way Woodbury is living, they’re barbarians. She’s frightened by them and also feels guilty because she knows they don’t stand a chance against the Governor and his army. But in the end, she goes back to Woodbury to sleep in a warm, comfortable bed. And there was absolutely no chance that she was going to kill the Governor. That little tease was just a drawn-out, annoying conclusion to a stale episode.

Andrea has become a big problem in The Walking Dead, because I cannot imagine any viewer still invested in her character and her story-line. She’s always preaching for what is right and is never satisfied with anything. But because we have the two locations, she’s one of the major characters on the show. I’m not saying that Laurie Holden is a bad actress, but there’s something horribly wrong with her character. She’s so far away from receiving any sympathy from the audience, I don’t think there’s another character I’d rather see killed. What’s her purpose on the show? To sleep with the Governor, complain to the Governor, and just have the Governor walk all over her? If her purpose was to remind us how ruthless Rick’s group has become, then that’s over with. Now it’s time to be over with Andrea.

So is the show still aiming to have that big showdown between Woodbury and the prison? If so, it really doesn’t seem like it’ll be much of a fight. And we know that they won’t wipe out one group because after all, this is a television show. There aren’t enough characters to just wipe out the majority of the main group. But in the end this was an episode setting up bigger and better things to come. Fans might be frustrated, but The Walking Dead is carefully moving its pieces around the chess board until the big moment comes. I just hope they get there sooner than later.